The iron sand twisted into countless black thorns, linking together into a barrier.
White Fang's body crashed to the ground—only to be immediately swallowed inside another iron-sand shell.
Chiyo landed outside, puppets bristling around her.And floating effortlessly above the barrier was the Third Kazekage, iron sand spinning at his feet.
He lifted a hand to his cheek. A thin cut traced across his face, blood sliding down.
He had been wounded.
His eyes narrowed on the man inside the barrier."…Among all the shinobi of Konoha, I have to admit your strength."
Konoha… the so-called cradle of geniuses.Why was it always Konoha birthing monsters?
Inside the barrier, Hatake Shōmo exhaled, sweat dripping. He didn't care if the Kazekage acknowledged him. What mattered was the situation: Chiyo's puppets circling, the Kazekage floating freely above, iron sand pressing in from every angle.
He was cornered.
The puppets surged again, blades gleaming. Shōmo had no choice but to parry and evade, even as the iron thorns extended in waves. One slip, one pause, and he'd be shredded.
And he could not afford a single wound.
Chiyo's poisons didn't forgive mistakes.
So Shōmo moved relentlessly, using Wind Release to blow poisons back whenever they hissed close. But against two masters on this level? Even Konoha's White Fang couldn't keep up forever.
If not for his honed reflexes, his massive chakra pool, and that temporary breathing trick Jinzō had taught him—the Thunder Breath—he would have already fallen.
But now? He had no chance to counter. He was simply being worn down.Dragged toward death.
Retreat? Impossible. They would never let him slip away alive.So there was only one choice left: take someone with him.
During a lull, Shōmo pulled out a kunai wrapped in layers of explosive tags. He clenched it between his teeth.
Wherever the leaves dance, the fire will burn. The fire will light the village, and new leaves will sprout.For Konoha.
The Kazekage and Chiyo froze for a moment, realizing the danger. Their attacks slowed.
A trapped beast would bite hardest—and White Fang was no ordinary beast.
If he detonated, one of them might not walk away.
But before he could strike, a loud voice rang out across the battlefield:
"Spirit Pill! Self-destruct!""Wind Style — Great Breakthrough!""Combined Jutsu — Spirit Pill Explosion!"
A blast of wind swept in, hurling a glowing blue orb straight into the field.
The three combatants turned at once.
Shōmo's lips moved, whispering the name of the figure charging toward them."…Uchiha Jinzō."
"Don't you dare die on me yet!" Jinzō bellowed, sprinting forward. "At least drag me out before you kick the bucket!"
A puppet's blade speared through his chest——but Jinzō wrapped both arms around the construct, locking it in place.
"Take me home alive, you bastard!"
No blood spilled. Instead, his body ignited in white fire.
Boom!
Jinzō's form burst into smoke, leaving only scorched wood. A clone. A joke—except the glowing Spirit Pill he'd left behind kept swelling, brighter and brighter.
Both Kazekage and Chiyo paled, immediately retreating. Their iron-sand barrier dropped.
White Fang was freed, and he shot clear of the expanding orb faster than either of them.
The Spirit Pill detonated.
BOOOOM!
A blue inferno swallowed everything, gouging a crater into the earth.
From the far rim of the blast, Shōmo stood panting, blade in hand, eyes locked on the Kazekage and Chiyo across the ruin.
In the distance, Jinzō coughed, muttering through clenched teeth:"You bastard… don't you dare waste my Spirit Pills! Do you know how long it takes me to cook those up?!"
That was all of his chakra. Back to square one. Miserable.
On the battlefield, Shōmo gave a tired laugh. In the end, Jinzō had come only to keep him alive—for fear that White Fang would die alone and Konoha would brand him a traitor.
"…I owe you one, Uchiha Jinzō."
He tightened his grip on his tanto, eyes flashing toward the Kazekage and Chiyo.
"The outcome's already decided. Struggling now is meaningless."
Iron sand roared to life behind the Kazekage. Chiyo's ten puppets encircled again.
But Shōmo did something strange: he sheathed his blade, removed his mask, and spoke calmly.
"I've been wondering about something. The third stage of basic inner training… why does it demand a chakra capacity on par with a tailed beast? Even Hokage don't have that kind of chakra. So how the hell is it possible?"
The Kazekage scowled. "What nonsense are you talking about?!" He reshaped the iron barrier again.
"Die with my son and daughter-in-law!" Chiyo shrieked, hurling her puppets forward.
But every time, White Fang slipped free.
Shōmo lowered himself into a crouch, white chakra erupting from his body—and then condensing, taking form.
A colossal phantom, tens of meters tall, surrounded him.
The Kazekage's eyes widened. "What… is that?"
If we're not playing ninja anymore… why the hell does it look like he's summoning a Gundam?!
"This… is will. Forcing reality to bend to it."
Shōmo's eyes sharpened, his spirit blazing brighter than chakra.
Both enemies fired their deadliest attacks at once.
But the giant drew a blade in sync with Shōmo.
Slow. Deliberate. Yet impossibly fast.
The swing cleaved the sky.
A white flash hundreds of meters long roared out, cutting past both Chiyo and the Kazekage, smashing distant mountains into rubble.
That blade carved its name into the world itself.
The name of Konoha's White Fang.
BOOM.